1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the class of surgery. More particularly, the present invention relates to the subclass of curettes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Excessive growth of the pharyngeal tonsil or adenoid produces a condition commonly found in children. The enlargement may block the nasal passages or eustachian tube and produce disturbances in breathing and hearing. If severe, the child may assume a characteristic vacant, stupid expression accompanied by mouth breathing. The presence of these growths may handicap the child in his physical and mental development.
Fortunately, surgical removal is relatively simple with the use of an adenoid curette, which is a surgical instrument that includes a handle, a shank, and a cutting head. The shank is either straight or curved and the cutting head is of varying sizes to accommodate for different patient characteristics.
Heretofore, adenoid curettes were fabricated from solid one-piece material, a typical manufacturer being STORZ. The use of one-piece adenoid curettes require the physical or medical facility to obtain a large number of separate instruments, often at great expense, for accommodating for the different sized cutting heads. Also, sterilization and resharpening of the cutting head is necessary to maintain a sterile and consistently sharp edge during use, which is critical since a sharp precise removal of the adenoids is required.
Thus, there is a need for an adenoid curette whose cutting head is interchangeable so as to accommodate for different patient characteristics and thereby eliminate a need for a physical or medical facility to obtain a large number of separate instruments for accommodating for the different sized cutting heads and whose cutting head is disposable so as to eliminate a need for sterilization and resharpening thereof to maintain a sterile and consistently sharp edge during use.
Numerous innovations for curettes and bladed surgical instruments have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
FOR EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,082 to Chatfield teaches a surgical instrument comprising a curette having a disposable single or double-edged stainless steel razor band loop blade for cutting and cleaning out cavities in tissue and as a microtome, knife, eraser, and abrader.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,000 to Bedner et al. teaches a detachable cutting blade assembly that includes an elongated handle having a rear end and a front end on which a cutting blade can be detachably supported and a blade-locking member, in the form of a wall, is secured to the top surface of the front end of the handle. A portion of the wall of the blade-locking member has lateral lips which give the wall a T-shaped cross section and this provides securement for a cutting blade. The lips of the blade-locking member are aligned with a hole in the handle and this permits the entire handle to be made with a two-part mold in a relatively inexpensive molding process.
STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,035 to Torre teaches a surgical instrument that provides a handle for removably attaching blades having different sizes and different purposes for performing different surgical procedures.
YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,061 to Michelson teaches an improved ring curette for the removal of pathological body tissues.
STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,989 to Bray, Jr. teaches a curette including a cylindrical handle, having a longitudinal axis, and a shaft, having a longitudinal axis. The shaft is attached to the cylindrical handle at a first end of the shaft, such that the longitudinal axis of the shaft is parallel to, but not collinear with, the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical handle. A tip is included in a second end of the shaft.
YET STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,307 to Tipton teaches a disposable hemostatic curette that includes a handle, at least one scraping implement, and a crushable applicator. The handle has a first end, a second end, and a length. The cross section and length of the handle are sized to facilitate easy manipulation with a thumb and forefinger. The first end of the handle is tapered to a smaller diameter which is connected to a scraping implement. The scraping implement is preferably round in shape with a shallow bore. A scraping edge of the scraping implement is a sharp edge which is formed from the inner wall of the shallow bore and a tapering outer wall of the scraping implement. A deep bore is formed in the second end of the handle, and is sized to firmly receive the outside diameter of a crushable applicator. The crushable applicator includes a transparent flexible housing, an applicator swab, and a crushable ampule containing a hemostatic solution. At least one crush window is disposed at the second end of the handle. The crush window is an opening through the second end of the handle to the deep bore disposed in thereof. The crush window is sized to allow a thumb and forefinger to break the crushable ampule located inside the crushable applicator which wets the applicator swab.
STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,958 to Ralph teaches a curette having a variably angled handle that includes a curette member which has a disc shaped end. The disc shaped end has a hole through its center and a series of discrete angular graduations on its edge. The disc shaped end is retained via a pin in a recess in the proximal end of a handle. The handle includes an axial bore through which a shaft extends into selective contact with the graduations on the disc shaped end of the curette member. The curette may be angularly positioned relative to the handle if the shaft is selectively disengaged from its contact with the graduations of the disc shaped end of the curette member, but not once the shaft has engaged the graduations. The shaft may be selectively engaged by a variety of different ways, including spring biasing, threading and having a selectively extendable handle.
YET STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,405 to Koch teaches a medical instrument that is adapted to remove obstructions from ear canals, nostrils, and endotracheal tube airways. It includes an elongated handle with an elongated hollow tube connected to the front end thereof and an elongated flexible wire extending from the front end of the tube. The front end of the wire is curved to form a scoop for removing obstructions from a lumen. In one embodiment, the wire and tube are removable as a replaceable unit from the front end of the handle. In another embodiment, the handle has a central cavity therein communicating with the cavity in the tube and through both of which the wire extends. The wire is connected to a spring which extends out of the handle. The spring biases the wire into the tube. When the wire is manually depressed, the front end of the wire extends out of the tube and curves into the desired scoop configuration. The instrument can include a light which is switched on when the wire extends out of the tube and which is used to light the lumen. In another embodiment, the front end of the wire forms a loop which goes back into the tube, which is flexible, the loop being extendable from the tube by spring biasing. In a further embodiment, one end of the loop is secured to the exterior of the tube and the loop is shielded by a removable cap.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for curettes and bladed surgical instruments have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
ACCORDINGLY, AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an adenoid curette that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an adenoid curette that is simple to use.
STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an adenoid curette whose cutting head is disposable by being quickly attached to, and removed from, the shank of the instrument so that a sharp and sterilized blade is available at all times.
YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an adenoid curette whose cutting head is interchangeable by being quickly attached to, and removed from, the shank of the instrument so that different sized cutting heads are available at all times for accommodating various characteristics of a patient.
BRIEFLY STATED, STILL YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide an adenoid curette that includes a shank, a handle, and a cutting head. The shank has a pin, male threads, and a collar. The cutting head is a loop that is continuous and has a groove, a slot, and a neck. The shank is placed in the groove and in the neck, and the pin is positioned in the slot. The collar is threaded onto the male threads, captures the neck during threading, and abuts against the cutting head during threading so as to force the pin further into the slot until the collar can no longer rotate indicating that the pin is fully seated in the slot and thereby causing the cutting head to be captured between the pin and the collar and thereby interchangeably retaining the cutting head on the shank so as to allow different cutting heads to be used for accommodating various characteristics of a patient and so as to allow the cutting head to be disposable and eliminate a need for sterilization and resharpening thereof.
The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.